1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fabrication of semiconductor devices and, more specifically, to a method of producing an insulator with a low dielectric constant, or “low K dielectric,” for electrically isolating components of an integrated circuit and the resulting insulators. More specifically, the present invention relates to methods for forming porous, low dielectric constant layers or structures in which the insulative material may initially be formed in a substantially solid and structurally sound state and is converted to a porous state once the low dielectric constant layer or structure or one or more layers or structures thereover have been processed, as well as the layers or structures so produced.
2. Background of Related Art
Integrated circuits (ICs) include transistors and other circuit elements that are configured and interconnected to provide a flow of current. For proper IC operation, the circuit elements and interconnections must be electrically isolated from other circuit elements and interconnections. Such electrical isolation has typically been accomplished by forming insulative layers and structures, or insulators, between the various circuit elements.
As consumers continue to demand portable computers with faster operation speeds and electronic devices which are more compact and have more memory, there continues to be a demand for the development of ICs that are smaller and more energy efficient. The densities of ICs generally increase in accordance with Moore's Law, which states that the number of circuit devices that fit on a chip of given dimensions doubles about every year-and-a-half to two years. As more circuit devices are placed on the chip, the distance between the various circuit devices or circuit elements gets smaller and leads to increased capacitive coupling (crosstalk) and propagation delay. To minimize the problems associated with crosstalk and propagation delay on smaller chips, while also minimizing the sizes of insulative layers and structures, better insulators must be developed.
Effective IC insulators should provide low current leakage, good mechanical strength, and low permittivity. The effectiveness of insulators is typically measured in terms of the relative dielectric constant for the material used as the insulator. Generally, a lower dielectric constant for a given material results in the given material being a better insulator. Silicon dioxide (SiO2) has been extensively used as an insulator in IC devices. Silicon dioxide has a dielectric constant of about 4.0.
In contrast, air has a dielectric constant of approximately 1.0. Thus, the formation of insulators with air gaps therein (e.g., from porous dielectric materials) is desirable because the presence of the air gaps within the material reduces the overall dielectric constant between adjacent conductive structures. However, the presence of air gaps tends to reduce the mechanical strength and integrity needed by the dielectric material to support various circuit devices and components on the IC.
Examples of processes that may be used to form air gaps, or pores, in insulators are the so-called “sol-gel” processes. Sol-gel processes are typically used to fabricate porous, ceramic insulators. Because the silica-containing sol-gel structures shrink upon completion of the sol-gel process, however, relatively high porosities are needed in the initial sol-gel structures to produce an insulator with a suitable dielectric constant. However, the large number of pores present in the high porosity sol-gel structures weakens these insulators and makes them susceptible to crushing, as well as to other types of damage.
Other dielectric materials that may be made porous include various organic polymers which have dielectric constants that are less than that (about 4.0) of silicon dioxide. However, many organic polymers have lower mechanical strengths, are softer, and are more malleable than silicon dioxide, making porous insulators that have been formed from organic polymers susceptible to damage during fabrication of the IC.
Another example of porous, low dielectric constant materials are the so-called SiLK® (Silicon Low-K) materials that are produced by the Dow Chemical Company of Midland, Mich. While SiLK® purportedly has relatively small (i.e., as small as about 20 nm), closed cell pores which are uniformly distributed therethrough, temperatures on the order of about 400° C or greater are required to cure SiLK® films. The use of such high process temperatures following the fabrication of metal structures is, however, somewhat undesirable, as exposing many of the types of metals that are used in semiconductor device fabrication processes to such high temperatures may stress, fatigue, or damage the layers or structures formed thereby. Moreover, as voids are present in SiLK® films prior to processing thereof or of overlying layers, SiLK® films are still more prone than solid films to being damaged during such processing.
An insulating material that may be mechanically processed or structurally support overlying layers during mechanical processing thereof in a substantially solid, nonporous state, then be porified to have a dielectric constant sufficiently low to meet the needs of ever-decreasing device dimensions would thus be an improvement in the art, as would methods for fabricating such a material.